The application relates to systems and methods for protecting magnetoresistive (MR) heads from damage caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD).
MR heads (also know as MR recording heads, MR sensors and MR elements) are typically used in magnetic storage drives to read data from and write data to magnetic storage disks. MR heads are characterized by a high sensitivity to damage caused by ESD. ESD typically is not a significant concern after a magnetic storage drive has been finally assembled because the MR head and other drive components are contained within a housing that shields the MR head from sources of ESD. On the other hand, ESD is a significant concern before the magnetic storage drive has been assembled (e.g., during manufacture and testing) because the MR head is exposed to many sources of ESD during this time.
A MR head typically is protected prior to final assembly by shorting the leads of the MR head. The MR head leads, however, must be unshorted during testing and prior to final assembly of the magnetic storage drive. Many MR head shorting techniques have been proposed. For example, shorting leads that must be manually connected to and disconnected from the MR head have been proposed. In another approach, Arya et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,454) has proposed an ESD protection system that includes a shorting bar that automatically shorts the MR head when a load beam on which the MR head is mounted bends beyond a certain angle.